Renton Specials - April 2017 Renton School District

High Quality Instruction and Learning for Every Child, Every Day in Every Classroom

April 2017

School Board awards bid to build new elementary school Renton School Board has awarded the construction bid to build the new Sartori Elementary School to the Forma Construction Company. The company has a great record of completing projects on time and on budget. Forma Construction, formerly Berschauer Phillips, also built the new Benson Hill Elementary School in 2005 and completed major construction and renovation projects at Nelsen Middle School in

2011 and Lindbergh High in 2013.

Construction on the new school, located at 332 Park Ave North, Renton, will soon begin.The new school is made possible thanks to overwhelming voter support in the February 2016 School Construction levy. The school is slated to open for students in August 2018. Learn more about the school and see artist renderings of what the school will look like at www.rentonschools.us.

High school girls recognized for work in math, science and technology Three Lindbergh High School juniors have won the American Association of University Women award for their academic achievements in science, technology, and mathematics. This year’s award recipients are Josie Martin in technology, Kiana De Jesus in mathematics, and Layla Mahmood in science.

The young women were cited for their academic excellence and mastery of mathematics and science, and as leaders at their school and their engagement in many extracurricular and volunteer activities. (Photo courtesy of Lindbergh student Spencer Davis)

New superintendent to start job July 1 Dr. Damien Pattenaude continues to meet with families, staff, community members, and students, as he works to transition into the superintendent position. In the past few weeks, he’s met with students from Sierra Heights Elementary School, Nelsen

Middle School, and Hazen High School to get their input on what is going well in schools and what can be improved.

Students told Dr. Pattenaude they really appreciate the work being done by teachers to make classroom learning meaningful

and relevant for all students.

Students also spoke about how passionate and caring their teachers are and how teachers take time to ensure students understand lessons and content. Students at the high school level also said they appreciate how high schools

are doing a good job making all students feel welcome at school; how students seamlessly work and learn together, and not in cliques; and how important it is for them to form lifelong bonds with students of different races and ethnicities.

Subaru buyers Shared the Love with Renton School District students Hundreds of customers of Walker’s Renton Subaru each donated $250 to the Friends of Renton Schools foundation as part of Subaru of America’s national Share the Love event. The donations, which totaled $96,585, were made for every new Subaru purchased or leased during Subaru’s annual campaign that ran between November 2016 and January 2017.The Friends of Renton Schools foundation will use the funds to continue funding programs that benefit students in every school in the district including Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs, afterschool and summer robotics programs, music programs and student musical instrument repair programs.

This is the third yearWalker’s Renton Subaru has provided its customers with the annual giving campaign; with donations to Renton students now totaling more than $200,000. Dale Walker continues to be actively involved with the school foundation. According to Subaru, this year’s donation is the largest of its kind in the region which includes dealerships from Seattle to Alaska.

Battle of the Books: Students read, then compete to show comprehension of book’s plot, characters, more Students from all district elementary schools recently competed in the annual Battle of the Books competition. This year’s winner is Kennydale Elementary School.

Battle of the Books is a trivia game that focuses on reading and comprehension. In January, fourth- and fifth-grade students at all elementary schools join together in small classroom groups to individually read 16 chapter books.

Students then compete in classroom competitions to show their

understanding of a book’s plot, focus, characters and more. Winners at the classroom level move on to schoollevel competitions. Winners in the school categories recently competed in the district level competition held at Hazen High School. Battle of the Books is a great way to encourage students to read a wide range of genres and authors, and complete to show their understanding of the literature. Friends of Renton Schools foundation helps by books and fund the competition.

Renton Schools making good progress closing opportunity gaps New information provided by a regional education initiative shows Renton Schools is improving access to quality education for all students while also closing race and ethnic opportunity and achievement gaps. The Road Map Project’s latest report on the state of education in some King County schools shows many areas of good progress for Renton School District students: • More rigorous course-taking: 62% of the class of 2016 completed course-taking requirements that apply directly to a four-year college (Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, etc.) compared with 47% of the class of 2015.

• Graduates meeting requirements to qualify for college rose sharply to 62% in 2016, from 47% in 2015. Increases were seen across ethnic and racial groups, helping to close the achievement gap.

• College enrollment by district graduates went from 54% of the Class of 2014 to 62% of the Class of 2015.

• Renton School students also realized increases in 3rd-grade math, 5th-grade reading, and 8th-grade science achievement.

Renton ranked among the top100 U.S. cities Renton has been named one of America’s best places to live thanks to its schools, housing, city amenities, infrastructure, social and civic opportunities, and health care. The online site livability.com has ranked Renton among the top 100 cities in

partnership with The Initiative for Creativity and Innovation in Cities at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.

The site ranked more than 2,100 cities to come up with the Top 100.

Students learn first-hand how legislation is created A group of students from the Secondary Learning Center (SLC) recently visited with state representatives, senators and others in Olympia. The 17 students led by teachers Amy Schexnayder and Stefeny Anderson met with state Representative Steve Berquist in a hearing chamber and role played a hearing for a bill to disconnect standardized testing from graduation. Students provided testimony, acted as committee members, proposed

amendments, and voted on the bill.

The students then took a tour of the path of the bill, from the committee hearings to the Senate, were the process began again. Students were taken to the floor to learn how lawmakers vote and move the bill on to the governor. SLC students are learning how to be engaged in the state governmental process by developing a deeper understanding of the processes and the people who work within those systems.

Principals, other school/district administrators learn about adolescent brain function School principals and other school/ district administrators continue to learn and improve their skills and knowledge just like teachers, students, and support staff. The group recently attended a day-long workshop to improve their understanding of child and adolescent brain development, neuroscience, conscience, and behaviors. The work will help continue to improve

relationships and interactions with students by better understanding how youth work through physical and mental trauma in classrooms and in social situations. Understanding of brain development, reactions, and decision-making can help principals and school staff make better decisions about student discipline, while leading to better relationships.

New notification system lets families know when school bus is late Renton School District families and students have a new way to know when a school bus is running late using the Bus Bulletin notification system.

Families and students can sign-up to receive text and email messages for multiple bus routes. Online registration is easy, free, and completely secure at the BusBulletin website.

The BusBulletin website provides instant notifications by text message and/or email messages when

there are delays greater than 10 minutes, schedule changes, or incidents that affect your student's bus. Register now at https://www.busbulletin.com.

Renton School District | 300 SW 7th Street, Renton WA 98057 | 425.204.2345 | www.rentonschools.us www.facebook.com/renton.schools | twitter.com/Renton_Schools | www.youtube.com/user/RentonSchoolDistrict